Question

I am trying to compile a 3rd party library( on linux) and see that it is generating libsomething.a files I have my other libraries which are .so file

But it appears that even .a is shared library and can be used just like a .so lib

So is there any difference between the two ? or they are just same with different naming convention.

Answer 1

But it appears that even .a is shared library

Nope, it’s a static library.

and can be used just like a .so lib

If you mean linking to it, then yes. But you can’t dlopen() an .a file which you could do with an .so file.

You can always ask our old friend Uncle G to answer your questions.